mirabilis
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Pronunciation
Forms
mīrābilis (neuter mīrābile, adverb mīrābiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]
Etymology
It is from mīror “to marvel at”, from mīrus “wonderful”, with the suffix -bilis.[2][1][3] Columella has a superlative ⟨mīrābilissimus⟩.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.[5] The OLD cites Terence for the construction with a clause.[2]
Semantic evolution
It meant causing wonder, marvellous, remarkable, extraordinary, strange, as in Cicero, and in Terence mīrābile est it is a wonder that.[2][6]
In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant wonderful, marvellous, and as a noun Mīrābilis Christ.[7][5] It survives in Italian meraviglia and French merveille from its neuter plural, and Old French merveille gave English marvel about 1300, “a miracle”.[1][3]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[5]
- 190–159 BC – Terence uses mīrābile est.[2][5]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the marvellous.[6][5]
- c. 1300 – English marvel is recorded.[3]
Meanings
Adjective
Word family
- mirabiliarius
- mirabilitas
- permirabilis
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson